Dragon Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Two to illustrate the snow: (I'm sorry about the artefacts; I haven't got time to spend getting rid of them.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 And a page to illustrate the roads at the summits after the war: See the caption to the top one: the trench on the right of the road is German and the French are lower to the left. Egbert mentioned the close proximity of the protagonists. I'll add one of my own to reinforce that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Taken at la Courtine, near le Linge, where the German and French trenches are no more than 15 metres apart. I could stand in one and clearly see the details of a fern in the other and think that the enemy was as unimaginably close as that. In fact, the wide angle lens makes them seem further apart than they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 There is a beautiful village near, Turckheim, with good restaurants etc and town criers who walk about each night, they say this has been continuous since medevial times, storks too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Well Gwyn, these are extremely interesting scans which complement the story exceptionally well. Can we hope for more please? And- your pictures mentioning Schratzmännele and other mountains - wel this was my walk the next day of which I have also tons of pictures, but certainly they do not fit into this thread but could serve as materiel for another thread "My walk from Schratzmännele via Barrenkopf to Kleinkopf" Let me continue with this thread while Gwyn hopefully scans more 1920s: After visiting the ancient German cemetery and the hospital bunker near Gite Etang du Devin, I decided to pay respect to the soldiers once buried there and later relocated to the nearby German military cemetery Hohrodberg which is just a 20 min ride away. On my way I passed the French equivalent cemetery Wettstein, where French soldiers killed on buchenkopf are buried today. Here is the French cemetery: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Col du Wettstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 The last picture from French Wettstein cemetery. Sadly vandals seem to have visited the French cemetery. The registry book is ripped off and the cover is missing. I think the French authorities need to take a bit more care....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 .....whilst the German military cemetery Hohrodberg is in excellent shape (registry perfect condition, although both cems are only some 3-5-km apart). A great thank you to 'Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge' (VdK) for well maintaining the graves of our dead. My donations seem to be well invested. So it is here the ancient cemetery graves were relocated to. Here are the brave soldiers killed in action to include the Buchenkopf killed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 A lonely bunker guards the lonely graves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 The plaque says that 2438 soldiers are buried here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Jewish and Christian graves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Somebody found his NOK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 What a peaceful and dignified ambience today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackimzey Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Egbert & Gwyn, I appreciate the geographical references. I've always loved maps and being able to locate where all these great pictures were taken makes them even more meaningful to me. many thanks, ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 This is the typical German grave decoration when somebody pays respect to a fallen soldier he was acquainted with (the Brit poppie equivalent) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 How many names are inscripted on the plaques in front of the mass grave (Kameradengrab), how many were killed in action at Buchenkopf, carried down to the hospital bunker or the ancient cemetery..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 The Kameradengrab is framed by two massiv columns. This one reads: "Wanderer verweile in Andacht und künde zu Hause wie wir als Männer gefallen in Treue zur Heimat" I surely fulfill this oath by posting this thread to GWF and ask you to spare a second for all the unhappy souls @ Siege Gunner: please try a nice Oxford Engl. translation and post it here as my English is just limited to Texan and Alabama Engl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 The other one has a disrespectful bullet hole and reads: " Wir liegen zusammen in Reih und Glied Wir standen zusammen im Leben Drum gleiches Kreuz und gleicher Schmuck Ward uns aufs Grab gegeben Nun ruhen wir aus vom heissen Streit Und harren getrost der Ewigkeit" @Siege Gunner: at your disposition please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2009 This will be my last picture from my climb up to the Buchenkopf. It took a lot of effort and I appreciated all your comments. I hope this was interesting to the British reader as this battleground has seen the same fierce combat like Flanders and Somme. If you liked it, spare a second to all soldiers from both sides who lost their lives there and gave us food for thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Thank you, Egbert, for sharing your walk in such detail. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I would very much appreciate a translation of the German texts you quote, as I don't read German. I think a separate thread on your other walk would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 12 August , 2009 Share Posted 12 August , 2009 Egbert. It's been a great thread and I hope will make more British people visit these sites. The war in the Vosges must have been incredibly hard for both sides, due to the terrain and the winter weather. I think the same could be said about the Italian / Austrian front as well. I learnt a lot from my visit and anyone who has only visited the Somme or Ypres will be stunned by what they find. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 13 August , 2009 Share Posted 13 August , 2009 There is a beautiful village near, Turckheim ... Just for you... Place Turenne. No storks - they've been reintroduced to Alsace now and some towns, like Munster, are seriously over-storked. Guide Illustrés Michelin des Champs de Bataille - l'Alsace et les Combats des Vosges 1914 - 1918 - Vol.1. 1920 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 13 August , 2009 Share Posted 13 August , 2009 The French cemetery Egbert showed. I have to say when I was there in May, it was very well maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 13 August , 2009 Share Posted 13 August , 2009 It's curious how different people see things. I recall the graves but most of all I was awed by the memorial and its message - This is massive. I had to crouch down with a 10-22 mm lens to get the whole structure in (other photos). At the foot of it is a bronze(?) sculpture of a soldier, with his abandoned weapon. As you approach, there are walls where French families are allowed to put personal memorial plaques. Many have photos and many have the haunting inscriptions - disparu au Linge - tué au Schratzmännelé - tombé au assaut du Linge - disparu au Linge - disparu au Linge - disparu au Linge - Linge - Linge - Schratzmännelé Schratzmännelé Schratzmännelé Linge Linge Linge It's extremely haunting, yet you also feel like an intruder into their private grief. But despite the poignant exhortations on the memorials, this beautiful place and its people suffered all over again twenty years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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